The best hotels in Europe: The Gold List 2020

Melinda Stevens is Editor-in-Chief of Conde Nast Traveller UK and US and award-winning travel editor and columnist

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Each of these hotels in Europe help set the gold standard for travel – they’re all beautiful but different, exceptional but original. They might be old classics: the glamorous Belmond Hotel Splendido in Portofino; The Connaught, which has stood on the same corner of London’s Mayfair since the early 19th century; or Gstaad Palace, a fairy-tale castle with a magical allure. Others have had a fresh lease of life; Paris’s Hôtel Lutetia is a masterclass in belle époque revival, while Cheval Blanc has taken over at St Tropez’s legendary La Résidence de la Pinède.

THE BEST HOTELS IN THE UK

MANDARIN ORIENTAL HYDE PARK, LONDON

After a roof fire in June 2018, this flag-flying regal stalwart reopened last April. No one has dared to mess with the turreted exterior, and staff still meet guests at the door in red tails, but gone are the heavy curtains and throws. Instead, everything is lighter, fresher – even the marbled lobby – and rooms have been painted a pale grey with gold lampshades. The carpets have been replaced with wooden floors and little libraries curated by bookseller Heywood Hill. Still the best are the Hyde Park-facing rooms where the sound of the Household Cavalry clip-clopping past is better than any morning alarm. Artist Leah Wood has updated the Butterfly Terrace with hand-painted floral art; in the ballroom – where the Queen learned to dance – every millimetre of gold leaf has been restored; and both Bar Boulud and the molecular Dinner by Heston Blumenthal are packed every night. Gracious and unstuffy, it’s still the best-situated hotel in London. By Tabitha Joyce

Mandarin Oriental London review: First Look

THE LANESBOROUGH, LONDON

The Regency dandy of Hyde Park, The Lanesborough is an unashamed concoction of gold leaf, trompe l’oeil and marble that has all the interiors oomph of a palace hotel – and, with a butler for each room, service to match.

THE CONNAUGHT, LONDON

With smart dining from star-spangled chefs (Vongerichten, Darroze), an ethereal Aman Spa and quite possibly the best hotel bar in London, The Connaught is a distillation of everything that makes Mayfair tick.

HAM YARD, LONDON

Snug within its own Soho enclave, Ham Yard, from artful townhouse maestros Kit and Tim Kemp, still feels as fresh as when it opened in 2014 with its procession of fabrics, textures, collector’s pieces and fizzy commotion that rebooted the whole concept of boutique.

THE BEAUMONT, LONDON

In Mayfair, The Beaumont puts a playful spin on Prohibition-era New York with an impeccably realised bubble of Art Deco escapism best approached through the Magritte Bar; sculptor Antony Gormley’s three-storey Room makes this a hotel that's totally unique for the city.

The Beaumont London hotel review

CLIVEDEN, BERKSHIRE

The thing about the hotel game is, as soon as anyone hits a good design note everyone else jumps on it, until its ubiquity makes us forget the very freshness that first turned our heads. It’s here, among the noise of shifting-sand trends, that there is a renewed place for the aristocratic hotel; the weightiness of it all giving us something solid and stately to hold on to, undiminished by centuries. This is one of England’s finest examples, within swinging distance of a royal palace (Windsor Castle) and with a properly British sense of history and eccentricity, all sparky soirées and scandalous showgirls. It’s high opulence meets high jinks. Skip the spa: it’s the restaurant and bar that are truly special, a spot to nurse a whisky in a tub armchair looking out at those magnificent gardens. Cliveden is palatial yet incredibly romantic, a place to talk into the night; it feels like a house party just for two. For all of the English countryside’s scene-stealing Heckfields and Babingtons and Soho Farmhouses, there’s still something magical about the grand heritage hotel, and this is a winner. By Melinda Stevens

THE BEST HOTELS IN IRELAND

THE WESTBURY, DUBLIN

The Westbury may not have the gracious Georgian proportions of some of its rivals, but it’s a less-buttoned-up local charmer with real flair. The Doyle Collection is a family-run Irish hotel group that counts London’s The Bloomsbury among its premises, and The Westbury is its flagship on home turf. It’s the little things that matter here, such as the team’s genuine warmth and desire to help guests tap in to the Dublin scene – whether engaging them with an expert-led art walk or guiding them to the city’s new foodie highlights. Location also counts. Trinity College, Grafton Street and the city’s best shopping hubs are just a skip away – or slip out through the back door into Dublin’s creative quarter, a browsable cluster of boutiques, cafés and galleries. Back at The Westbury, the owners’ collection of gallery-grade Irish art hangs in the drawing room, while the glam Sidecar Bar has butter-soft, caramel leather banquettes to roll into over a couple of killer cocktails. Decoratively speaking, a rolling programme of refurbishment has been bringing all 205 bedrooms bang up to date, with makeovers shot through with nods to the 1930s in a swatch of silver, mauve, mink and eau-de-nil tones. Locals gossip over lattes in Balfes Bar & Brasserie, while the first-floor Wilde restaurant – named after a certain Irish-born literary great – is one of the capital’s prettiest dining rooms with its in-out balcony and street views (order the signature Irish coffee and be prepared for the theatrical pyrotechnics involved in preparing it). This is a rooted hotel that offers a window on contemporary Dublin without peddling the usual Irish clichés. By Aoife O’Riordain

ADARE MANOR, CO LIMERICK

Toss a pebble in any direction across Ireland’s 26 counties and you’ll likely hit all manner of manor hotels. But when you’re dashing across the island from Dublin to Limerick, the one to stop at is Adare. Trappings of heavy velvet and armour, superbly polished floors, and the satisfying crunch of a well-raked gravel drive are present here. Yet this is a thoroughly modern reinvention of a country escape – draught excluders begone – with airtight double glazing and lashings of hot water in a tub overlooking a waterfall on the River Maigue. An eye-opening afternoon of falconry, including an introduction to mesmerising owls large and small, is fuelled by an open-faced grilled-prawn sandwich and a glass of Sancerre worthy of Adare’s recent Michelin Sommelier award, served fireside in the stained-glass Gallery. This is a welcoming place without pretension – a remarkably understated lobby and check-in area are pleasantly filled with a congenial mix of hushed world travellers, inbound and and outbound from Shannon Airport, which is only 30 minutes away. This summer, the manor will debut a new indoor pool, two paddle-tennis courts, a yoga studio and a steam room/sauna. The hotel can arrange a wonderful day trip to the Cliffs of Moher on the raging Atlantic up north, but we suggest a is to visit nearby Foynes Flying Boat & Maritime Museum, home to first point of entry to Europe for transatlantic flights from the U.S. in the 1940s--and the birthplace of the Irish Coffee. By David Jefferys

THE BEST HOTEL IN SCOTLAND

FIFE ARMS, BRAEMAR

When art-world heavyweights Manuela and Iwan Wirth opened their gallery-restaurant-hotel in Bruton, Somerset in 2014, they mobilised hundreds of thousands of art lovers to the English countryside, and transformed the community. Now they’ve hit the bull’s eye again in the Highlands with The Fife Arms, which takes a familiar tartan-clad template and – with love and respect and even a kind of delicacy – blows it to smithereens. The Fife Arms is different, however, in that it’s primarily a hotel, not a gallery – though, with works by Picasso, Freud, Richter and so forth, you could be forgiven for thinking of it as one. Next up, the power couple will pull the cultured crowd to Yorkshire to the revamped Bretton Hall in the parkland of the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, resetting again the compass of the British countryside break.

The Fife Arms hotel review

THE BEST HOTELS IN FRANCE

RITZ PARIS

This is one of a small number of hotels so high and mighty they create their own weather systems. Which made the ragging it got when it reopened in 2016 after a four-year revamp all the more baffling. Some scoffed that it was a facsimilie of its former self, smelling of fresh paint but virtually unchanged. But what exactly would have been gained if the Ritz had been remade in the image of a Nantucket shrimp shack or Buddhist monastery? It had stuck to its guns and its critics had shot themselves in the foot. The Ritz remained, merci au bon dieu, the Ritz, demonstrating that sometimes the most spectacular renovations are the least spectacular, though it is as opulent today as at any time in its 121-year history. Yet even here, among the silks and tassels, a kind of democracy prevails. The smallest rooms are, by Parisian standards, generous, and differ from the mega-suites only in the scale, not the degree, of their sumptuousness. And it does not matter how rich, famous or beautiful you are – the peerless Bar Hemingway still isn’t taking reservations. By Steve King

HOTEL DE CRILLON, PARIS

Together with the Ritz, Hôtel de Crillon is a case study in how to stay relevant as a heritage hotel in the 21st century. While the Ritz carried on in the same splendid fashion as always, the Crillon blasted off in search of something new. The result is a fascinating postmodern triumph.

Hôtel de Crillon review

LA RÉSERVE, PARIS

La Réserve owner Michel Reybier had great success with his Geneva and Ramatuelle outposts. Yet there was general astonishment when, in 2015, La Réserve Paris sashayed into town, teaching the city’s grandes dames new tricks.

La Réserve Paris hotel review

LE BRISTOL, PARIS

Utterly immaculate yet playful, Le Bristol is much like the pampered Birman cat, Fa-Raon, who roams its halls. There are sensational new rooms, and the lobby restaurant remains fashion power-breakfast central. FInd out more in our guide to the best hotels in Paris.

THE HOXTON, PARIS

LE MEURICE, PARIS

Ageless Le Meurice has always been tolerant of experiment and eccentricity. No wonder it was Salvador Dalí’s favourite. Most of its suites, including the penthouse, Belle Etoile, have been redone in damask and velvet.

Le Meurice: is this the most Parisian hotel in Paris?

HOTEL LUTETIA, PARIS

After some topsy-turvy years, Left Bank Art Deco institution Hôtel Lutetia reopened in 2018 looking better than it had when James Joyce wrote bits of Ulysses here, thanks to architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte and collaborators such as Francis Ford Coppola.

Hotel Lutetia, Paris, France hotel review

GRAND-HOTEL DU CAP-FERRAT, COTE D'AZUR

Two types of glamour can be found on this stretch of coast. There is the see-and-be-seen glitz of yachts, beach clubs and film festivals. And then there is the tranquil, timeless brilliance hiding at the very tip of the French Riviera’s most exclusive peninsula, Cap-Ferrat. Don’t be fooled by this institution’s marble lobby with its Lalique crystal, white-on-white columns and Gustave Eiffel-designed rotunda – it balances this old-school sheen with unpretentious, relaxed elegance. Though the Grand Hôtel was built in 1908, a top-to-toe refurbishment by Pierre-Yves Rochon in 2009 and a Four Seasons scoop-up six years later has ensured that everything, including the standout rooms, spa and service, remains perfectly in step. Top chef Yoric Tièche whips up Provençal dishes with panache, while the wine cellar is stuffed with rare vintages (1799 Chateau Lafite Rothschild; 1854 Château d’Yquem). Beyond the manicured gardens and parasol pines, a glass funicular trundles down to the rocky shore where retro Club Dauphin, set beside a glinting saltwater pool, provides a deliciously serene alternative to the bustling Côte d’Azur scene. By Lanie Goodman

Grand-Hotel-du-Cap-Ferrat review: a timeless seaside palace on the French Riviera

VILLA LA COSTE, PROVENCE

If Paul Cézanne could revisit his beloved Aixois landscapes today, chances are that he’d be gobsmacked by the 600-acre Château La Coste – a patchwork of pine forest and biodynamic vineyards with a Tadao Ando-designed arts centre and an open-air museum of contemporary sculpture. Everything­­ – including, scattered across the forest, small-scale pavilions by Pritzker Prize-winning architects blends so seamlessly with the terrain that at first you might not notice the exquisite 29-room Villa La Coste, discreetly built into the hillside, which opened in 2016. Owner Patrick McKillen, a Belfast-born art collector and property magnate, and his team dreamed up a geometric stack of rectangular light-drenched suites, filled with stylish mid-century inspired furnishings, tall four-posters, Asian-minimalist marble bathrooms and spacious terraces with sweeping vistas. The all-wood holistic spa experience is unique, a mix of slather-and-scrub treatments with coloured clay, mineral salts and fragrant herbal oils. With a café and three organic restaurants, all featuring local produce, to choose from (including one overseen by Argentine grill-master chef Francis Mallmann), seasonal exhibitions and a plush library, there’s plenty to discover. For modernism addicts: Villa La Coste’s latest suite, No. 30, is a Richard Rogers-refurbished version of a Jean Prouvé 6x6 demountable home – a solar-powered luxury suite in the woods with a pod-shaped futuristic kitchen and original furniture by Prouvé and Pierre Jeanneret. This is, quite rightly, a sensation. By Lanie Goodman

Villa La Coste hotel review

DOMAINE DES ETANGS, MASSIGNAC

Cows – even charismatic ones, such as the burnished-gold Limousins of this region – are not normally avatars of enchantment. Yet here it’s easy to see them that way. So powerful is the spell cast by the place that everything within its 2,000 acres of pastures between Limoges and Angoulême takes on a magical aura. Reopened after a lavish renovation in 2015, the hotel has 29 rooms across its 11th-century castle and farmhouses, and fun interiors, with Matisses and Picassos hanging alongside Tintin prints and telescopes. The landscape begs to be explored; the fishing and birdwatching are excellent. An attic in the château is strewn with trunks full of games for les enfants, while maman et papa can head to the spa and fabulous Michelin-starred restaurant. Best of all, this playfully reinvented château is still just secret enough. By Steve King

Domaine des Etangs hotel review: A French fairytale castle

LA BASTIDE DE GORDES, PROVENCE

There’s a storybook quality to this ultra-elegant hotel on the edge of the Luberon’s prettiest hilltop town. It was given a £28 million overhaul in full-on 18th-century Provençal style by the Airelles Collection in 2014, but managed to emerge classic yet not clichéd, formal but not fusty. The walls are glutted with oil portraits, and antiques sourced from l’Isle-sur-Sorgue are the real thing; staff are dressed in somewhat cumbersome costume (medieval-style bodices and straw boaters) but ever attentive. There are incredible views of the valley below from every nook and cranny of the garden, the dining terraces and west-facing bedrooms. The building is stealthily spacious with 40 bedrooms, and there’s a serious Sisley spa, designed with monkism minimalism, plus four superb restaurants. Supper at the new rustic-style Clover Gordes is a joyous affair, helmed by chef Jean-François Piège, with signature dishes including pizza soufflés and a carbonara of wild squid. And should the mistral kick up, sip your digestif at the bar on a velvet couch by a crackling fire. This is Provence in its most honeyed glow. By Lanie Goodman

La Bastide des Gordes hotel review: A glamorous village perch

CHEVAL BLANC ST-TROPEZ

La Résidence de la Pinède, a classic peaches-and-cream Riviera hotel on the beach outside St Tropez’s centre, was reborn in 2019 as the latest of LVMH’s superb Cheval Blanc properties. It’s both golden oldie and bright young thing. All that made La Pinède great has been preserved – that covetable strip of private beach; the three-Michelin-starred extravaganza of La Vague d’Or restaurant; the cinematic cluster of tables in the main courtyard. Inside, however, it has been transformed. Architect-designer Jean-Michel Wilmotte has applied a blue, white and ivory palette; the lines are angular; there are glossily glazed ceramics on the walls; and descending the stairs inside the front door leads to a Guerlain-scented parallel universe. St Tropez is blessed with marvellous hotels these days, in contrasting styles. In town, there’s White 1921 and Byblos; nearby, wellness-focused La Réserve Ramatuelle and elegant Villa Marie. Cheval Blanc occupies the proverbial sweet spot in between. By Steve King

Cheval Blanc St Tropez review: First In

THE BEST HOTELS IN ITALY

HOTEL DE RUSSIE, ROME

From the moment the top-hatted doorman ushers you into the classic-modern space by former Valentino interiors whizz Tommaso Ziffer and Rocco Forte director of design Olga Polizzi, the sense of being in the foremost place to stay in town is as sharp as the Campari sodas served in the bar. The 120-room hotel just off Piazza del Popolo mixes up Art Deco-tinged nods to Rome’s classical past with jazzy homages to the spirit of Picasso and ballet legend Nijinsky, who stayed in its previous incarnation. They’re commemorated in signature suites, as is Giuseppe Valadier, the architect behind the palazzo’s terraced garden. This is being restored for the hotel’s 20th anniversary – one of several refreshes that include a health-oriented lightening of the mod-Med menu. The kitchen is overseen by chef Fulvio Pierangelini who also curates the food at the Stravinskij Bar, which heaves with beautiful Romans come aperitivo time. By Erin Florio

BELMOND HOTEL SPLENDIDO, PORTOFINO

The first guest to sign the hotel’s visitor’s book was the Duke of Windsor, who stayed here with Wallis Simpson in 1952. The following pages of the weighty volume reveal a Who’s Who of the international Dolce Vita set (Clark Gable, Humphrey Bogart, Liz Taylor), and the stream of A-listers has never stopped. It hasn’t really changed much, although super-yachts have replaced the fishing boats. A former monastery acquired by Orient Express hotels in 1985, the Splendido overlooks the harbour, giving all but a handful of the sunny bedrooms grandstand views. There’s a retro-glam feel, with button-back banquettes, honey-hued parquet and custom-made Seventies terrace furniture. After a day spent lying by the saltwater pool, guests gather on the terrace to sip on Campari spritz while an old-timer plays schmoozy numbers on a baby grand, then tuck into lemon-scented linguine with clams. This is the only place to stay on the coast; no wonder it has such a loyal following. By Lee Marshall

THE GRITTI PALACE, VENICE

In a city with such a concentration of luxe hotels, none does it in quite the same sumptuous style as this Grand Canal classic. The 15th-century palazzo has been open to guests since 1895. And a 15-month, £30 million revamp completed in 2013 ensured that it’s no creaky museum piece, although most mod cons are cleverly concealed. But it’s the sheer grace of the place that makes it so appealing. Of course, it’s all inimitably exquisite, with rich Rubelli fabrics, precious antiques and priceless art; but this silky cocoon also manages to be utterly affable. Nothing is too much trouble. From the staff who serve cocktails from the Martini trolley at the waterside bar to chef Daniele Turco, who creates wonders with castraure – those special, Venetian baby artichokes, grown in a garden on Mazzorbetto island. A restorative facial in the Sisley spa? A spin on the canal in the Riva launch? Full immersion in local food at the cookery school? Only if you can take your eyes off that watery spectacle outside, because this is still one of the most beautiful hotels in one of the most beautiful spots in the world. By Anne Hanley

AMAN VENICE

The crush of overtourism has risked muting the magic of La Serenissima, but the city’s hotels, many of them former palaces and villas during the Republic’s glory days, remain a bastion of Venetian romance. At the graceful Aman Venice, in the quieter San Polo district, there is slightly more reserve. With its Murano chandeliers and peerless rabbit cappelletti served in a side garden, the hotel is the intersection of taste between this revered Asian brand and the Italian count and princess who own the property.

Aman Venice hotel review

BELMOND HOTEL CIPRIANI, VENICE

The intimacy of Aman is countered by the spaciousness of Belmond Hotel Cipriani on the Giudecca, where every room has water or garden views. Those who prefer to sleep somewhere that’s at least four centuries old can head to its annex, set inside a 15th-century palace.

LOCANDA CIPRIANI, VENICE

For an extraordinary spot that has remained under the Cipriani family umbrella, hop on the traghetto, or ferry, to Locanda Cipriani, a charming little inn on an island in the lagoon that feels like an escape within the city.

PALAZZO VENART, VENICE

And if craving the truly contemporary without compromising on the classic, book one of the rooms at the whimsical Palazzo Venart. Reached through a hard- to-find courtyard off the canal, it’s filled with modern statues that underscore not just the remarkable history of the city, but its fabulous art scene, too.

JK PLACE FIRENZE, FLORENCE

Italy’s most stylish small chain, JK Place, recently crossed the Alps by launching in Paris. But while this chic young thing may turn a few heads on the Left Bank, it’s wise to bear that old Italian saying in mind: ‘Il primo amore non si dimentica mai.’ ‘You never forget your first love’. When it opened in 2003, the original JK Place, in the heart of Florence, was like nothing else in the city: a clubbish townhouse pied-à-terre that captured the Tuscan capital’s effortless blend of culture and couture. The good news is that it has by no means lost its mojo since then. The 20-room property feels like the home of a well-travelled urbanite – rather like perfectly turned-out manager Claudio Meli, whose in-depth knowledge of the city is distilled in his self-penned J.K. Essential Guide to Florence, currently in its fourth edition. Rooms (we love the Master) are elegant, light-filled refuges, but the hotel also invites the city in: its Sunday brunches are fixtures on the well-heeled Florentine social circuit, and contacts with some of Tusany’s top artisanal firms – such as hip ceramics brand Richard Ginori – keep guests on the inside track. By Lee Marshall

HOTEL VILON, ROME

The quiet, confident arrival of the Vilòn gave Rome a boutique hotel to showcase the city’s sharp sophistication, which too often gets upstaged by its antiquities. A dream team of contemporary Italian collaborators – architect-designer Giampiero Panepinto on public spaces and set designer Paolo Bonfini on bedrooms – deftly mixes jewel-box Art Deco tones with mid-century-modern furniture. Details such as rococo columns and large-format artworks by photographer Massimo Listri are trumped only by the hotel's location, overlooking the formal gardens of the Palazzo Borghese. The result is fresh but grown-up, and self-assured with no ego – thrillingly positioned at the intersection between Rome's old and new. By Erin Florio

Hotel Vilòn, Rome review

IL SAN PIETRO DI POSITANO, AMALFI COAST

A tribute to the vision and folly of its creator, Il San Pietro di Positano burrows into a cliff, with a lift plunging down to the beach via a shaft hacked out of rock. It’s the ultimate Amalfi Coast cocoon, made all the more attractive by delicious but not overly fancy seasonal food.

BORGO SANTO PIETRO, TUSCANY

Tuscan Borgo Santo Pietro has expanded from nine to 20 rooms since its 2008 opening, all done out in impeccable country style. Alongside a Michelin-starred restaurant, the hotel also has its own natural skincare line.

GRAND HOTEL TREMEZZO, LAKE COMO

Lake Como has seen its share of designer openings in recent years, but few match the glamour of century-old Grand Hotel Tremezzo, which is staying lithe with lakeside-view T Spa and a restaurant dedicated to late super-chef Gualtiero Marchesi.

BORGO EGNAZIA, PUGLIA

Celebrities (Madonna, the Beckhams) keep delightful Puglian resort Borgo Egnazia in the news, but the heart of this hotel is not the private-villa district they hide away in. It’s the pretty piazzas of Il Borgo and La Corte, where the community vibe is ramped up by six restaurants and three bars.

Borgo Egnazia hotel review

WALDORF ASTORIA ROME CAVALIERI, ROME

The Rome Cavalieri, set in 15 acres on Monte Mario, with views to the dome of St Peter’s, is both a lavish escape and perfect city-break address. The lack of neighbourhood action is more than made up for by a world-class art collection and La Pergola, one of the best restaurants in the capital.

THE BEST HOTELS IN GREECE

AMANZOE, PORTO HELI

With views over the glitzy fray of Porto Heli bay, this hotel is a series of set pieces: a composition of black amphorae in a soaring portico, a sky-lit spa framed by graceful colonnades, a yoga shala balancing on a Peloponnesian panorama. Marble-clad villas look like miniature Parthenons, only with planted roofs and plunge pools. The recurring nod to the Acropolis veers towards pastiche, yet it all hangs together beautifully because the landscape refuses to be upstaged by the monumental architecture. Other guests are barely noticeable (even the terribly famous ones). The pool is miraculously empty, the library is all yours, and there’s always a front-row daybed at the beach club. At dusk, everyone drifts towards the circular terrace, which floats on a reflective pool, to stare as sunset streaks the horizon fuchsia and tangerine. The beauty of Amanzoe lies in its isolation; the quietude of the landscape and the absence of distraction are an instant balm. By Rachel Howard

Amanzoe hotel review: a modern day Acropolis in the Peloponnese

THE ROMANOS AT COSTA NAVARINO, PELOPONNESE

Like Amanzoe, Costa Navarino has shone a light on an unsung corner of the Peloponnese. The Romanos, its polished marble flagship, feels deeply rooted in the local culture. Immersive experiences include philosophy walks in centuries-old olive groves and grape harvesting in the organic vineyard.

BLUE PALACE, CRETE

Crete’s Blue Palace has an equally strong sense of place. Set on a lucid pebble beach, this family-run property has more authenticity than all the identikit hotels along the Elounda coastline combined. There’s a wooden fishing boat to putter across to Spinalonga island and a lamb spit-roast at dusk.

PORTO ZANTE, ZAKYNTHOS

Zakynthos has shaken off its party island reputation with the unobtrusive arrival of some very smart hotels. Our favourite is Porto Zante, which has nine villas overlooking a private bay. Everything is just so, from the super-smart room service to the perfectly aligned beach toys at the sparkling water’s edge.

FOUR SEASONS ASTIR PALACE, ATHENS

But it’s all change at Sixties jet-set favourite Astir Palace, as the Four Seasons has put the pizzazz back into the Athens Riviera with a glossy update of the modernist hotel. Especially brilliant is Pelagos restaurant, tricked out like a Thirties ocean liner by Martin Brudnizki.

THE BEST HOTELS IN SPAIN

FINCA CORTESIN, ANDALUCIA

Hovering in the hills above Marbella, Finca Cortesin is a refuge of grown-up style; a huge, 215-hectare plot housing 67 elegant suites and a handful of lovely villas. It’s all about generosity of space: two Olympic-sized pools in jade tiles the colour of a mermaid’s tail, plus an indoor pool of similar enormity that’s perfect for early spring or autumn when there’s a chill in the air, and a spa offering the sort of massages you think might actually change your life. Despite the property’s panoramic footprint, Finca Cortesin remains cunningly intimate, with gardens to stroll in, a Moroccan lounge with a twinkling zellige floor, terraces for tea, shaded courtyards and countless discreet, pillowy spots to squirrel into. It’s a good-feelings sort of place. Built in 2009, it’s also a nifty piece of historical reinvention, from the traditional, Andalusian architecture to the rooms stuffed with antique furniture, the doors and tapestries salvaged from decaying castles and the chinoiserie-papered bar. It’s all a part of the refined, untroubled effect at work here that makes this low-key but supremely sophisticated place seem to hum with calm and happiness. By Charlotte Sinclair

Finca Cortesín review: A palatial Andalusian hotel

HACIENDA SAN RAFAEL, ANDALUCIA

Imagine high summer in Andalucia, a mercilessly hot sun pressing down like a blade on a treeless plain of sunflower and wheat fields. Next, imagine a garden of green and shaded nooks rising out of that same treeless plain, where birds chatter from branches and blossoms trail with obscene abundance over pergolas and allées. Run by Anglo-Spanish brothers Anthony and Patrick Reid Mora-Figueroa, Hacienda de San Rafael has been in their family for nearly 150 years, and its transformation from olive estate to hotel a is the result of a painstaking, decade-long restoration project. Lying a few miles south of Seville, the Hacienda opens up like a treasure box from its central, cobbled courtyard, paths beckoning through arched openings into the garden, leading to three swimming pools and the thatched-roof, antique-stuffed casitas that are the nicest places to stay here. Days begin with breakfast in your room or by the fountain in the courtyard, or in the hotel’s elegant dining space, a fire sputtering in the grate in cooler months, before moving on to swimming and sunbathing. The atmosphere is mellow, the hours drift, bees buzz around the jasmine, ice clinks against glass, plates of salty jamón ibérico appear and disappear. Without noticing, the afternoon slips into evening, drinks are summoned and supper served in your casita’s thatched, outdoor lounge, the stars pricking the night sky. In other words, the very quintessence of a perfect summer holiday. By Charlotte Sinclair

Hacienda de San Rafael, Seville: hotel review

THE BEST HOTEL IN GERMANY

SCHLOSS ELMAU, BAVARIA

This castle overlooking the mighty Zugspitze, Germany’s highest peak, has had its share of epoch-defining moments. It opened in 1916 in the midst of Bavaria’s dynastic demise and later served as a convalescent home for Holocaust survivors. More recently, it was the setting for the 2015 G7 Summit. The effects of such high-level bargaining must have been countered by the hotel’s six rambling spas – three are family-friendly – and a treatment list that reads like an epic poem and includes therapies such as the underwater Physio Floating massage. Together, they form a sort of wellness constellation of rooftop thermal infinity pools, sauna huts scattered along the babbling Ferchenbach creek, and what’s touted as the largest marble hammam west of Istanbul. The bedrooms, redesigned in 2005 by Patricia Urquiola, are bright and minimal, with honey-hued wood and lots of windows for gazing out at the Alpine landscape. There are nearly as many dining rooms as massage options, with seven restaurants, including the two-Michelin-starred Luce d’Oro. Multiple libraries, a bookshop selling arty Taschen titles, and a salon with classical music performances and literary readings by heavy-hitting authors such as Ian McEwan prove it’s not just about the body here, but the mind, too. By Adam Graham

THE BEST HOTEL IN DENMARK

NIMB, COPENHAGEN

Despite a well-honed reputation for design, Scandinavia isn’t exactly overflowing with wonderful hotels. This happens to be one of them, a place that’s both practical and magical. It’s opposite the railway station but adjoins the fairy-tale-fabulous Tivoli Gardens, which owns the hotel. The building dates from 1909 and has an over-the-top Moorish façade, topped by domes and turrets, as well as a zippy modern annexe with plant-filled terraces. It’s also Denmark’s first hotel with a rooftop pool and bar. All of this, plus outstanding food in a town where inventive plates are a ferociously competitive obsession (how many other hotels have their own pastry store?), make it one of the most unusual – and certainly one of the sleekest – places to stay in Scandinavia. That said, it’s also deeply cosy. Danish aspirations are all about living well surrounded by great materials, which explains the enviable wooden floors, dreamy beds and rich fabrics in the bedrooms (most in the original building have fireplaces), along with homegrown spirits in the minibar. The breakfast is one to linger over, with rye-bread porridge, served with sea buckthorn, and a signature sausage made with ramson and gouda. And a spa was added in 2018, with a bone-warming hammam. It’s a haute-hygge place where no corners have been cut. The Tivoli Gardens is a much-loved part of Denmark’s soul, and in many ways the Nimb is the same: a beautiful and cheering place for escaping the real world, if only for a while. By Stephen Whitlock

Nimb Copenhagen hotel review: A Scandi design classic

THE BEST HOTEL IN HUNGARY

FOUR SEASONS GRESHAM PALACE, BUDAPEST

This high-ceilinged architectural beauty has certainly had a chequered life. Built in the modernist Secessionist style in 1906, when Budapest was still joint capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it became a billet for Soviet troops in 1945, then was left to slowly moulder during the bleak Communist years. So its comeback, in 2004, was a cause for celebration for the whole city. Intricate mosaic floors were de-grimed, glass cupolas and stained-glass windows revealed, and lovely plasterwork reworked. The museum-quality restoration set the bar for the other global hotel groups that have steamed into Budapest, snapping at similar treasures (W is set to open in Drechsler Palace, once home to the Hungarian Ballet, in 2020). But this is still the best. Its location, by the famous Chain Bridge over the Danube with views to Buda Castle, is unimpeachable; a handy base for trips to the House of Terror museum, open-air Széchenyi thermal baths – ask the switched-on concierge for fast-track entry – or the magnificent Hungarian State Opera House. Bedrooms are a haze of dove grey and parquet flooring, all conjuring Belle Epoque urbanity; and the busy Kollázs brasserie is just as fun at breakfast as it is for dinner, especially if you snag a terrace table. A golden-era relic that’s still an essential part of Budapest’s fabric – anyone staying here has the precious sense of catching at the threads of history. By Adriaane Pielou

Four Seasons Hotel Gresham Palace review

THE BEST HOTEL IN PORTUGAL

SIX SENSES DOURO VALLEY

The European debut of the Asia-centric Six Senses group caused a sensation when it opened in northern Portugal in 2015, its particular brand of wellness cleverly seen through the prism of this world-class wine region. It’s set in a 19th-century manor house among vines which roll down to the wide Douro River. Inside, Irish-American designer Clodagh created a more contemporary minimalist vibe, and now a new wing has rooftop and vineyard rooms, each with private hot tubs. Naturally, there is a strong emphasis on local wines: tastings in the wine library; an enomatic machine operated by room key-cards (try the elegant white Guru). Beneath it all lies a huge pool, framed by gardens abundant with ripe fruit, including peaches that will be grilled and served with burrata, and lemons that are squeezed into scrubs in the spa’s potion-whipping Alchemy Bar. The spa is one of Portugal’s most serious, with programmes to help improve sleep and age more holistically. From design to outlook, Six Senses has given the wine-country hotel a thoroughly 21st-century update. By Mary Lussiana

THE BEST HOTELS IN SWITZERLAND

GSTAAD PALACE, GSTAAD

Driving through the Bernese valleys, climbing up the steep and bendy roads, there’s an extraordinary moment when you first see the Palace on the hill. The magic of it – the vertiginous proportions, the sparklingness of it all – are at the same time fairy-tale pastiche and timeless classic. There’s a magnetic allure; families have been coming here for generations, along with fallen royals, fashion designers and film stars. Everyone gathers, lounging on sofas by the fire or propping up the bar in the huge lobby which seems to spread out in every direction, filled with stories and intrigue. Later they all head downstairs to GreenGo, to dance with John Travolta and kiss in corners. It’s louche and glittery but still rarefied. It used to be that there were no other hotels of note in ridiculously pretty Gstaad. Now there are several, but the Palace is still queen, a proper grande old dame, with a twinkle in her eye. By Melinda Stevens

MONTE ROSA, ZERMATT

‘Charming’ isn’t quite the right word for the Matterhorn, is it? It’s got more than charm going for it. But let’s say the mountain’s grandeur, its tremendous majesty, its heart-wrenching sublimity, are matched by the more humanly proportioned charm of the Monte Rosa hotel near its base. It’s a tidy Victorian affair with wrought-iron Juliet balconies and red wooden shutters which, in spring and summer, harmonise with the velvety geraniums in the window boxes. The moment it opened, in 1855, the Monte Rosa became the de facto headquarters of the mountaineers, geologists, botanists, restless aristocrats and assorted well-heeled oddballs who had suddenly discovered an urgent need to clamber up – or merely gaze upon – the Swiss Alps. There are some slightly fancier places to stay in Zermatt these days, but there’s only one Monte Rosa, with its marvellous, low-ceilinged, tartan-upholstered bar; its woody, woolly, reassuring rooms; and its restaurant, Belle-Epoque, still among the loveliest dining rooms in a town that’s full of them. In the narrow lanes around the hotel are centuries-old chalets made of blackened larchs. Looming over it all, of course, like the greatest cathedral spire the world has ever known, is the Matterhorn. By Steve King

Hotel Monte Rosa, Switzerland: A Victorian jewel in the Swiss Alps

THE BEST HOTEL IN TURKEY

SOHO HOUSE ISTANBUL

It’s 25 years since Nick Jones opened his first members’ club in London’s Soho. In that time his creation has evolved from sceney drinking den to harbinger of the most humming international hubs: this year, new outposts are due to open in Rome, Tel Aviv, Paris and Austin. And the juggernaut doesn’t stop there – there are now Beach Houses, Little Houses, Farmhouses (next: upstate New York) and Warehouses (just-opened DTLA), beach bars and nail bars, co-working spaces and a homeware line. When the Istanbul hotel opened in 2015, it confirmed the city’s status as head-turning creative force in a scene that’s now bouncing back from political strife – reopened cultural institution SALT Beyoğlu and the temporary home of the Istanbul Modern are both nearby. The building – an ornate 19th-century palazzo, all marble and frescoes – is pretty head-turning, too, and bedrooms occupy a glass annex, tricked out in the brand’s instantly identifiable style with a Turkish twist. As with all Soho Houses, the perk of staying over is access to the members’ clubhouse where the cool crowd gather poolside, the DJ laying tracks over the call to prayer from mosques that spike the skyline like candles on a birthday cake. Nowhere is the juxtaposition between old and new, East and West, more intoxicating, and staying here captures it at its most immediate. By Fiona Kerr

THE BEST HOTEL IN THE NETHERLANDS

PULITZER AMSTERDAM

Back in the 1960s, Amsterdam businessman Peter Pulitzer had the bright idea of converting a few of the city’s grand Golden Age canal houses into a hotel. He was one of the first to do so. Today, the Pulitzer ambles, climbs, and stretches through 25 historic buildings, between two canals. The essence of Amsterdam’s past is here, but a contemporary makeover by Jacu Strauss, one of the architects behind the transformation of the Sea Containers hotel in London, blows away any cobwebs. Alongside the original stucco ceilings, antique Delft tiles, and baronial fireplaces, you’ll find prime new Dutch design (charred furniture by Maarten Baas, Piet Hein Eek’s patchwork Persian rugs) and countless works from the hotel’s extensive modern art collection. Rooms are in the palette of the Old Masters: deep blues, rich yellows, and pinky plums (the bathrooms, in contrast, are glinting white). Restaurant Jansz snakes through a series of rooms, simply decorated with plain wood floors and bentwood chairs, and serves robust fare big on flavor. Much like Amsterdam, the Pulitzer fuses prime elements of the past with irreverent contemporary design, while remaining originally, utterly itself. By Rodney Bolt